217
long periods of drought, and because of its great and endemic biodiversity that still
lasts on current times. Some of these biocultural evidences are reflected on the
diverse indigenous languages, pottery, the extraction of salt using ancestral techniques, the infrastructure for water management in dryland zones (see Hernández
Garcíadiego 2005) that contributed to domesticate plants, among others (CONANPINAH 2016), and it is a key site in the origin and development of agriculture in the
region of Mesoamerica. History helps us see the signs of an adaptation process in
this dryland through the management of resources that were carried out by human
being to survive. Now a days, this resources still provide to settled communities
within the Reserve and its periphery, so it can be taken up as a successful adaptative
inhospitable environment.
The recognition for the area and its attributes has attracted multiple actors at the
local, national, and international level which have promoted their registration to different protection schemes which, without a doubt, are an important reference in the
planning of activities to preserve the cultures, conservation, and management of the
site, as well as an ideal scene to review and consider the sustainable development
precepts and the objectives set in the International Development Agenda (Agenda
2030). We will refer to three different zones in the text: The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán
Valley which comprises a little bit larger area of 10,000 km
2
that are equivalent to
1,000,000 hectares which includes the floral province with the same name;
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve which has an approximate area of 490,186
hectares; and the World Heritage Property Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: original habitat of Mesoamerica that has a land of 344,931.68 hectares. All these zones are
interrelated.
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve: A Dryland
Region of Outstanding Universal Value
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is located in the arid–semiarid zone more to the
South of North America, in the intersection of Neotropic and the Neartic, in the
center of the cultural region of Mesoamerica, in the local province named TehuacánCuicatlán (CONANP-INAH 2016) (Fig. 13.1). In this zone, arid conditions are
determined by its geology, making an evident effect of a wall with the mountains
that obstruct the passage of humidity from the Gulf of Mexico which is increased to
be located in the tropic where the rate of evaporation is higher. These special features make The Valley, the most southern area of Mexico with an arid ecosystem
(INAH 2019). In 1998, an area of The Valley with an approximate area of 490,186
hectares was decreed as a Natural Protected Area (NPA) with the category of management and named as Biosphere Reserve (BR) Tehuacán-Cuicatlán (CONANPSEMARNAT 2013).
Due to its geographic and climatic conditions, the BR contains biomes with high
levels of endemism and a large of endangered species, a rarity of plant species and
13 International Recognition of the Biocultural Protection in Dryland Regions…
long periods of drought, and because of its great and endemic biodiversity that still
lasts on current times. Some of these biocultural evidences are reflected on the
diverse indigenous languages, pottery, the extraction of salt using ancestral techniques, the infrastructure for water management in dryland zones (see Hernández
Garcíadiego 2005) that contributed to domesticate plants, among others (CONANPINAH 2016), and it is a key site in the origin and development of agriculture in the
region of Mesoamerica. History helps us see the signs of an adaptation process in
this dryland through the management of resources that were carried out by human
being to survive. Now a days, this resources still provide to settled communities
within the Reserve and its periphery, so it can be taken up as a successful adaptative
inhospitable environment.
The recognition for the area and its attributes has attracted multiple actors at the
local, national, and international level which have promoted their registration to different protection schemes which, without a doubt, are an important reference in the
planning of activities to preserve the cultures, conservation, and management of the
site, as well as an ideal scene to review and consider the sustainable development
precepts and the objectives set in the International Development Agenda (Agenda
2030). We will refer to three different zones in the text: The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán
Valley which comprises a little bit larger area of 10,000 km
2
that are equivalent to
1,000,000 hectares which includes the floral province with the same name;
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve which has an approximate area of 490,186
hectares; and the World Heritage Property Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: original habitat of Mesoamerica that has a land of 344,931.68 hectares. All these zones are
interrelated.
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve: A Dryland
Region of Outstanding Universal Value
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is located in the arid–semiarid zone more to the
South of North America, in the intersection of Neotropic and the Neartic, in the
center of the cultural region of Mesoamerica, in the local province named TehuacánCuicatlán (CONANP-INAH 2016) (Fig. 13.1). In this zone, arid conditions are
determined by its geology, making an evident effect of a wall with the mountains
that obstruct the passage of humidity from the Gulf of Mexico which is increased to
be located in the tropic where the rate of evaporation is higher. These special features make The Valley, the most southern area of Mexico with an arid ecosystem
(INAH 2019). In 1998, an area of The Valley with an approximate area of 490,186
hectares was decreed as a Natural Protected Area (NPA) with the category of management and named as Biosphere Reserve (BR) Tehuacán-Cuicatlán (CONANPSEMARNAT 2013).
Due to its geographic and climatic conditions, the BR contains biomes with high
levels of endemism and a large of endangered species, a rarity of plant species and
13 International Recognition of the Biocultural Protection in Dryland Regions…